Terry Butcher plans to rejuvenate Hibernian and make Easter Road a venue to fear again

Alas, a new manager at Hibernian. The club’s 10th gaffer since the Scottish Premier League began back in 1998. Now called the Scottish Premiership since the start of the 2013/14 season, it is Terry Butcher who becomes the latest football boss to walk through the Easter Road doors, bringing assistant and wily old fox Maurice Malpas with him. The pair elected to leave high flying Inverness Caley Thistle in favour of stuttering Hibs. But on the other hand, the signs are there that Rod Petrie and co in Edinburgh may have conjured up their greatest bit of business in years.

Jackie McNamara unveiled as the new Dundee United manager at Tannadice

As Scottish football brought in what is hoped to be another prosperous new year in 2013, Jackie McNamara would have found himself sitting with a similar heir of optimism. At the start of January, McNamara’s Partick Thistle side sat at the top of Scottish Football League Division 1, looking odds on to gain promotion back to the SPL for the first time in 10 years. Thistle were scoring goals for fun under McNamara, in his first senior job in management, preaching an openly attractive attacking style of play. Indeed all things seemed rosy enough that on December 18, 2012, the former Celtic and Scotland star was given an early Christmas present with an improved contract deal offered to him by Thistle chairman David Beattie. However, at times in life, you have to seize the moment, and McNamara may well have done that just as the end of 2013’s first month was concluded.

Inverness boss Butcher turned down a chance to manage English Championship club Barnsley

News this week that Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager Terry Butcher rejected the chance to head south for English Championship side Barnsley certainly seems to have a sense of irony about it. Having said that, it could also be deemed a rare act of defiance, and one in which was warmly welcomed in the Highland capital of Scotland. I, as many other Caley Thistle fans were I assume, was fearing the worst when Butcher was granted permission to speak to Barnsley.

I am not a Hearts fan, but every season I seem to end up expressing my sympathy for those who are. Hearts is a fantastic traditional Scottish club, with Tynecastle guaranteeing an electrifying atmosphere for SPL games every other week. However for too long now the club has had a financial dark cloud hanging over it that seems to be never ending. Every week Hearts fans must sit and wonder what the next piece of news is regarding money difficulties. The players undoubtedly must ponder whether or not they will be paid on time each month. The situation has once again turned into a complete and utter farce.

Andrew Shinnie wheels away in delight after scoring Inverness’s second goal of the evening in the Highland derby

Friday October 5, 2012 was the night that the first ever top-flight Highland derby in Scottish football history would take place. A cold, blustery and wet night, (just the average day in Inverness!) would see a match full of passion, pace, tenacity and intrigue, eventually resulting in a home victory.

Visitors Ross County lined up with four ex-Caley Thistle favourites in their side. Goalkeeper Michael Fraser, midfield playmaker Iain Vigurs, defensive stalwart Grant Munro, and record Inverness appearance-maker and defender Ross Tokely. Still, the sight of Tokely turning out in SPL matches with something other than an ICT shirt around him is difficult to grasp and come to terms with.

Stuttering would be the best word to describe Craig Levein’s reign as Scotland manager so far. The Kingdom of Fife native walked through the doors of Hampden and took over as national team manager back in 2009 and filled the nation with fresh hope, and a real sense of optimism and belief, following so many let downs from the previous regime under out of sync George Burley. An open goal miss by Chris Iwelumo springs to mind. A memory no doubt members of the Tartan Army will never forget for all the wrong reasons.

Remember the night- Tuesday October 2, 2012, the night that Celtic Football Club won its first ever away match in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. Celtic, a club enriched in so much history and tradition, still reigns as one of the biggest clubs in world football despite the financial difficulties that face Scottish football these days. Yet for one so huge, the club’s European away record in recent years has been abysmal at best. An embarrassing defeat against Danish side Aalborg springs to mind, as well as the unforgettable 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Artmedia Bratislava after which ex-manager Gordon Strachan deemed his “worst night in football.” Well that bogey was diminished once and for all when Neil Lennon’s side travelled to the intimidating Luzhniki Stadium venue to take on Russian giants Spartak Moscow- and in some style.